A Little Something for You, Love
by Notrem Elgnid
Summary: Xander finds a picture in one of his packed away boxes while cleaning the closet. It reminds him of the past, and a wish made takes him back to highschool... (Set after chosen. Season 7 spoilers)
1. Unwrapping the gift

A Little something for you, Love. (Season 7 spoilers)  
  
By: Lycanthrope  
  
Summery: A picture frame in one of Xander's old packed away boxes reminds him of the past, making him want more in the future.  
  
Disclaimer: I don't think I have to go over this. lol, I DON'T OWN ANYTHING, as much as I would like to add Spike and Xander in my personal collection of BWoC's Merton Dingle's Silky shirts and.... ;) :D  
  
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Running his fingers through his hair, Xander couldn't bring himself to look at the mess he had built up in his closet over the years. When he had moved out of his parents basement, he hadn't had all that much, while living in the apartment with Anya, he had gathered a few things of his own, but mostly her stuff cluttered the shelves. When the hell mouth was destroyed, and took their town with it, everything but what he had in storage in LA was lost.   
  
He thanked Anya silently for suggesting they did so before the closet to his room began to spread its insanity outward. She wasn't the brightest, but when she had a good idea, it was usually worth looking into. She'd been gone now for over 3 years, yet he wasn't sure he was quite over her, there was things he wished he had said, and others, he hadn't.  
  
His train of thought was lost, when his roommate decided it was time to watch tv. Xander sighed, and turned to Andrew, who seemed to ignore him completely. "You wanna help me out here, or is this couch potato hour?" Andrew jumped at his voice, and glared at him angrily.   
  
"Why do I have to help *you*?" He asked, his voice as serious as it was going to get.   
  
"Because. Look, just help me clean out the closet. It has your crap in it too, you know." Xander pointed absently at the mess already spilling from the bottom of the closet, and watched as Andrew sighed, considering the thought.  
  
"Fine." He said finally, rising from his seat. "Its not that hard." He stood at the door, and scanned the heap of crap. He reached out, and took a hold of what looked like a shirt sleeve, and pulled on it. When the whole lot of stuff avalanched on top of the two, all either of them could do was laugh.  
  
Xander had regretted letting Andrew room with him. At first it was only going to be for a month or two. He wasn't sure who let time slip, but either way a month or two had passed long ago. He had considered living on his own, but rent would be too much. With him working at a local Carpentry, and Andrew serving up Burgers at one of the many Burger Kings their pay combined got through a month of rent, and put food on the table.  
  
When Xander dug his way out of the mess, he snorted as he watched Andrew flail his arms about helplessly. When he got to his feet, he pulled on one the boy's arms, yanking him from the tangles of junk. When they were both to their feet, Andrew sighed. "Missed one." He said, pointing to a large box on the top shelf.   
  
"Guess so." He said, pulling a chair from behind the smaller boy, and placing it in front of him.   
  
"Where'd all this come from?" Andrew asked, picking up an empty tissue box.   
  
"Mostly from storage..." Xander said, glancing over his shoulder at the blond. "But, Some of it just... kind of appeared." He laughed as he grabbed the box, and threw it to Andrew, who barely caught it, stumbling backwards into the table behind him.   
  
"Well," Xander said expectantly, nodding toward the box. "Open it." Andrew furrowed his brows, and stepped back from the box.  
  
"No way, what if something jumps out at me? Like... some little left over of Sunnydale." Xander rolled his eyes, and opened a corner of the box, screaming, and jumping back. This caused a reaction from Andrew, sending him off into the bathroom screaming as well. Xander laughed, and opened the box the rest of the way.   
  
"Oh, my bad. Its just Mr. Cuddles." He said teasingly as he pulled a little pink rabbit from the box. Andrew rounded the corner, sighing.   
  
"That was so not funny." He looked down at the rabbit for a moment, then back to his roommate. "How'd that get passed Anya?" He asked curiously.   
  
Xander shrugged. "I gave it to her on our first date." He laughed. "Lets just say that didn't go over to well." Xander took it from him, and set it back down on the table. He began rummaging through the box, finding a bracelet that looked oddly familiar. He stared down at the little silver ID tag with the engraving, 'Yours Always' and shook his head. He set it down on the table as a flash back hit him.  
  
(Xander and Willow approached Buffy, who seemed to be enjoying the campus scenery. "Here." Xander tapped on her shoulder, dangling a bracelet from his fingers. Buffy smiled brightly, and took it from him, clasping it to her wrist. She turned the little tag over, and read it aloud. "Yours Always?" Xander Laughed nervously. "They all came that way, really." Buffy nodded, her smile returning.)  
  
"Ah, the good ole days." He found himself saying as he pulled a small wooden picture frame from the box. He furrowed his brows again, running his fingers of the glass that covered a picture. The picture was of him and Willow taken long before Buffy had blown into town. He guessed it was taken sometime in Jr. High, for Willow still had her long red hair, and cute smile.   
  
"Whoa, that picture much be ancient." He heard Andrew say, the fog in his mind clearing. He looked to the boy, his gaze blank. "What?" Andrew asked defensively, raising an eyebrow. Xander shook his head.  
  
"Nothing, nothing." It was odd how way back then, he had nothing to worry about, how life seemed so simple. No worries aside from homework, and your usual teacher or parent hounding you to do your homework. He touched the eyepatch covering his nonexistent eye, remembering the day he lost it. He remembered the last thing he saw from that eye was Buffy doing her best to help him.   
  
Now she was off, living with Willow, Kennedy, and Dawn at a house that much resembled her old one. All the other potentials had gone off, back to England, or where ever else they had come from. When he visited, it felt like old times, once and a while he expected Willow to round the corner with Tara strung to her arm instead of Kennedy. Or Spike to crawl out of the basement when daylight hit.   
  
He had actually come to somewhat like the guy, after he proved his worth. When he had tried to rape Buffy, and ran off to return to his normal ways, he hadn't exactly hoped for a soul. Xander laughed at the thought, watching Andrew's confused expression. "What's so funny?" Andrew finally asked, running his finger along the side of the table, expecting to be scorned.   
  
"Nothing." Xander found himself saying again. He sighed when the other boy's eyes read disappointment. "The picture brought back memories," He explained, moving his gaze from the blond to the bracelet on the table. He could have sworn that thing had been gone for ages, not all that long before the brush with the way too attractive bug lady. "Before you and your buddies showed up, when Buffy first moved in." He said after a long pause. "Didn't expect anything like this..." His voice trailed off, remembering the battle he faced in the school his last day in Sunnydale.   
  
"Xander," Andrew choked, tapping on the other boy's shoulder. Xander blinked, and shook his head. He must have blanked out for a moment, because Andrew seemed a little more amazed than usual. "Its all over, you know." He began. "I know there's still the memories. I was there too you know." He sounded different now that he made sense, more grown up. "Besides, that was three years ago." He laughed nervously, turning away from his semi friend.   
  
Xander nodded after Andrew had retreated back to his overstuffed arm chair. Looking at the picture, he wished everything was like it was then. At least in high school, when Giles was still around, and everything was a little less confusing. For some reason, it seemed dealing with demons and evil was easier than dealing with the past.   
  
Suddenly, the apartment shook violently, sending the box off the table, falling to the floor. When he bent down to pick it up, he found himself in the Library of the original Sunnydale High.   
  
TBC 


	2. Enjoy the ride

~Disclaimer~  
  
I do not own the characters in this story, nor do I own any rights to   
  
the television show "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and "Angel the Series". They were created by   
  
Joss Whedon and belong to him, Mutant Enemy, Sandollar Television, Kuzui   
  
Enterprises, 20th Century Fox Television, WB and UPN Television Networks. Got that? Great.   
  
____________________________________________  
  
He hadn't even gotten the box a foot off the floor before he dropped it. Leaving it by his feet, he turned to examine his new surroundings. He was indeed in the Original Sunnydale High library... but why? Turning to Giles' desk, he looked to the calender that hung behind it. There were large red x's marking up until the current date. "Sunday March 2nd..." His voice trailed off when he noticed the date printed along the top of the glossy paper. "1997." He hung his head, and turned back to the shelves, sighing.   
  
He didn't want to know why he was even here in the first place, but it seemed he was alone. If it was Sunday, the why in god's name was he at the school of all places? He closed his eyes, and snapped them open, hoping it was all just a dream. But the musty library still laid stretched out before his eyes.  
  
Was this it? Was he doomed to live the last 10 years over again? He knew he didn't want to relive all that had happened, no way. It was only March 2nd 1997.... March 2nd? He paused his current thoughts for a moment, thinking back to Buffy's first day at the high school. That was indeed the 3rd. He laughed, running his fingers through his hair. Suddenly, it didn't seem all that bad. He stared at his reflection in the library doors, and smiled. He was his old, 2 eyed cute self. It no longer felt like he was living a nightmare, although reliving his past life over again wasn't something he wanted to do- it seemed for the time being he had not choice but to do so. At least until he figured everything out.   
  
He had so much on his mind, he forgot the library would be locked up, from the outside. When he tried to open the door, it didn't even budge. He had to admire the craftsmanship of the old wooden doors, but what he didn't need at the moment was sturdy wood. he sighed, and picked his box up off the floor, and set it on one of the tables. He began rummaging through it, not taking notice to the time.  
  
  
  
The clock on the wall read 5:53 am. When a key opened the lock of the door, he jumped and turned to see Giles come in, a stack of books in his hands. When he set them down, and turned to Xander- a look of shock drown his features. "Uh, hi..." Was all Xander could manage, looking to the watcher nervously.   
  
"Xander, what on earth are you doing here at this time the morning?" Giles asked, taking his glasses off to clean them.   
  
"Funny story, actually," Xander began getting to his feet. "You see, I was at my apartment cleaning my closet out with Andrew when-"  
  
"You have an apartment?" Giles asked, placing his glasses back on his face, and turning to his books.   
  
"Yeah, anyway. I was cleaning out my closet and... it was like poof! Well, not actually poof but, it seemed li-"   
  
"Poof?" Giles asked, amusement creeping into his voice.   
  
"Just, just listen." Xander demanded, holding up his hand. "It was -like- poof, and I was here." He looked to Giles, who seemed rather amused by the situation. "And you have no idea what Im talking about." Giles shook his head. "Alright, well lets put it this way. Where I was, it was year 2006... here, its 1997." Giles nodded, trying to look as serious as possible.  
  
"Maybe you dozed off Xander." Xander shook his head. First of all, how could he doze off on Friday, and wake up on Sunday in the middle of the library? If anything, he thought he would find himself at one of the tables, drool running down his chin. "Oh, you left this here on Friday." Giles said, breaking his thoughts. Xander looked up to his skateboard.   
  
"Th...Thanks." He choked. "I, better- do... something with it." He sighed, and tucked it under his arm and picked up his box as he made it to the outside of the building. There was no one around, so he set the box down, and jumped onto his skateboard. He went careening down the ramp, and onto the sidewalk. He found himself going down a rather big hill, too fast for comfort. Once he made it to the bottom of the hill, the wheels of his skateboard caught on some grass, and he went flying face first into the dirt.   
  
  
  
"Hey, are... are you ok?" A female's voice rang in his ears, and he sat up.   
  
"Oh, hi Buff..." He smiled nervously. "Yeah, Im fine. Aside from a few new bruises..." He corrected himself quickly, and got to his feet, now face to face with an 18 year old Buffy Summers. "The name's Xander." He said, holding his hand out for a hand shake. "And you're... Summers." He said, looking over his shoulder at the mailbox he nearly ran into. She laughed, and took his hand.  
  
"Buffy Summers, actually." She shifted her back pack from one side of her waist to the other and smiled. "Hey, you go to Sunnydale High?" She asked, glancing over his shoulder at the school at the top of the hill.   
  
"Yeah, I did. D'I doooo go there." He hung his head for a moment, scorning himself for all the slips.   
  
"Ah, would you like a ride then?" Another voice shook him from his private session. He looked up to see Joyce, his smile growing. It was strange to see her, after all she had been gone longer then Anya. The thought of Anya sent him through whirling emotion, like a knife was churned in his stomach. He was going to have to face Anya, and live through their wedding day, and-  
  
"Whoo hoo, Xander? Want a ride?" Xander snapped out of his trance like state, and nodded absently, climbing into the back of Buffy's mom's jeep.   
  
TBC 


End file.
